The stock market doesn’t seem to like the month of September. Historically, it is a month that produces declines and 2023 was no exception.
But September is a great month for farmland values. Especially in Saskatchewan.
Farm Credit has just issued its mid-year report on farmland prices showing this province riding the wave of agricultural investment. In the past year, the value or price of this province’s farmland rose by 17 per cent and the bulk of that – roughly two-thirds of the gains – came in 2023.
Demand has been strongest in the northeast part of the province as buyers were looking to avoid the more drought-prone regions in the southwest. And heavier land commanded higher-than-usual pricing.
Those valuations put Saskatchewan at the top of the heap in terms of price increases, with the gains running roughly 50 per cent higher than the national average for land value appreciation.
Even with higher interest rates and rising input costs, FCC says the simple fact that they are not making any new farmland coupled with increasing interest in food production is applying upward pressure on land valuations.
